Canon Imageformula P-150: Portable document scanner for the large of pocket

Have you ever been at a bus stop and quickly needed to scan an electricity bill? Yeah? You're in luck -- Canon has answered all your portable-document-copying prayers with the diminutive Imageformula P-150.

The device measures just 280mm by 95 by 40mm with its feed trays closed, which is about the size of two massive Toblerone bars stacked one on top of the other. Okay, so you couldn't fit it in your pocket -- unless you're a clown, or you let your trews sag like they do in rap videos -- but it's pretty flippin' small.

It works well, too. You simply flip open the lid, which becomes your feeder tray, and connect the machine to a laptop, which you'll no doubt have stashed in your other massive pocket. Next, you can either install the TWAIN driver manually, or -- easier still -- run the OnTouch Lite scanning software stored on the P-150's internal storage. Next, place your document on the tray, hit the scan button, and less than 6 seconds later, you'll have a 200dpi multi-page PDF containing both sides of your scanned document -- nothing could be simpler. Except, perhaps, not having to carry a laptop in your pocket.

The Imageformula P-150 can scan up to 20 sheets at a time and has an adjustable document guide that lets you feed anything from A4 size to business cards. Images can be captured at up to 600dpi, and the inclusion of optical character recognition software means everything you scan is also editable and searchable on a computer.

This kind of functionality in such a small package doesn't come cheap. Currently, the Imageformula P-150 is selling for around £257, but if you regularly scan documents at home, at work and while waiting for public transport, we'd thoroughly recommend it. Click the 'Continue' button below for more pictures -- including a sample of a scanned document.

The scanner connects to your PC via USB. A dual cable is supplied -- one header of which supplies data, while the other supplies data and power. With both connected simultaneously, the P-150 gets a boost in scanning speed.